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Thanks for sharing my joy! I was back in the gym again this morning and it felt great! The really good news is that I didn't got rid of any of my jeans that used to fit me! I guess I was never really willing to except the fact that I was going to be sick and overweight for the rest of my life. Unfortunately many people just believe what the doctors says and except it. I am not saying that there are some brilliant doctors out there, but if I would have just listen to all the diagnoses and not researched on my own I would still be sick. I am very grateful for all I have learned about Celiacs and many of the the other conditions associated with it. Now I can share my knowledge with others who need help dealing with this!
Thanks again for responding to my post and making me feel even better than I already did!

I completely agree with you. I have decided to go grain free as of late and it has changed how I feel so much. It is amazing that all of the pain in my body is gone is now gone! It will be interesting to have some labs done after a few months on this diet.
That's great info about the corn I didn't know that, but I had stopped eating corn too. I thought about eventually added a little quinoa because of all the nutrients and the protein content. The research said it commonly considered a grain, quinoa but a relative of leafy green vegetables like spinach and swiss chard. Have you tired this or did you cut it out too? Besides veggies, fruits, nuts, poultry and fish I am pretty limited which doesn't bother me much and has made me become more creative in the kitchen!

For the past decade fitness, nutrition, and health have been my career and my lives passion. I pretty much breathed, slept, and read everything I could about exercise and nutrition because I loved it so much. I spent most of my time in the gym either training myself or my clients. Then about 3 years ago something started happening to my health. I was sick all of the time, I couldn't digest most foods, I suffered from major acid reflux, and I would run to the bathroom after I would eat certain foods. One of the worst symptoms out of the hundreds I was experiencing was I had gained over 40lbs. Some people may think 40lbs pound is no big deal but for me it was.
Not only my self esteem but now also my career as a personal trainer and nutritionist suffered, along with my health, and I felt completely depressed. We even moved 3000 miles away from our home so I could take a job working at a Wellness Center, thinking it t was going to cure me from this unknown ailment that had now ruined my life. Needless to say the center didn't cure me and I diagnosed myself with a gluten allergy less than a year ago. I was so sick for the pat few years and had so much pain in my body that I couldn't walk some days, none of my clothes fit, I didn't have a job, and was so isolated from the world I once new.
Only one thing stayed the same from the beginning to the end. I had a great boyfriend who loved me and supported me while I went to countless doctors, and frequently changed doctors because of the misdiagnoses I received. The hours that added up to days that I spent talking about health problems and doing research trying to figure out what was wrong with me could have drove anyone away, but all I cared about was being healthy again. The days that he had to push me on the grocery cart in the store or lift me out of the car cause I couldn't walk, were some very dark and lonely days for me, I had unwillingly become someone I had no control over.
Then things slowly started changing as I learned about Celiacs Disease and I stopped eating gluten, and I slowly started to regain my health. Anyone that does or has at one point felt hopeless like there is no light at the end of the tunnel know that life is not over. Even though it might change things for a while once you learn how to live your life being gluten free things gets better, your health improves, your depression goes away and you can actually feel the sun shining and the hear birds singing again.It doesn't mean that it is easy, it just means it gets easier and you have a better perspective on life than you did before, and now can appreciate the small things that you may have taken for granted....(like walking)!
Today I ran on the treadmill for the first time in who knows how long and this morning I fit into a pair of jeans that I haven't worn in over 2 years!!! I am finally well enough that we can move out of this place, and move on with our lives that have been stuck in limbo for so long. I know I won't ever be able to eat gluten again and dining out with friends with no worries is out of the question, so life is different now. Some things from my old life may never be the same, but I can now have some of my previous life back back like exercising and not feeling ill all the time, and I can work on building upon those things to start a new life.
I am so happy to share this good news because there is so much hope for all of us!!! Have a blessed day!

Sound like you are feeling better which is great! If you are a big tea drinker then yogi makes some good ones that are great for detoxing the kidney/liver and one of them contains parsley in addition to lots of other herbs http://www.yogiproducts.com/products/details/peach-detox/. I love these teas. It is not labeled gluten free but you can double check all the ingredients, and I personally never had a problem with it. When candida dies it releases all kinds of nasty toxins into the body so getting the toxins out is just as important as killing it. Carbohydrates tend to make people hold and retain water so if your on a very low carb diet to kill the candida that may be why your not retaining much fluid. Just keep drinking as much as possible especially if your going to be out in that hot Texas sun! Hope everyday how you feel improves : )

I agree with martikai that parsley is a great one. It helps detoxify the kidneys so if you are dealing with a lot of die off from the candida your kidneys may be getting overloaded with toxins, and not flushing them out quick enough. Also if you have the energy to exercise or can find a way to work up a sweat that may help your body get fight the infection. Can you have any fruit yet on your candida diet? I put fresh parsley in my green smoothie. It is mostly greens but normally 1 serving of lower glycemic index fruit added to it so it's not to bitter and it tastes great! Hope you start feeling better soon UTI's and candida are no fun.

Are you experiencing any other symptoms besides the weird periods, weight gain, and fatigue? When they tested your thyroid did they also check for thyroid antibodies? My thyroid fluctuates too and my period are often irregular but I have Hashimotos and PCOS which can make me feel very fatigued at times. How is your appetite and are you sleeping ok?

Gluten does all kinds of crazy things to my body. I had terrible back problems to the point that I could not walk.It would happen at the most random times and sometimes I would get stuck in the car or have my boyfriend carry me out of the grocery store. I went to all different types of doctors and nothing seemed to help much until recently I started following a Paleo style diet and cutting out all grains. It kinda stinks because I am already allergic to gluten, soy, dairy, and now now grains at all!!! I was in so much pain all of the time though that this sacrifice was worth it. I would make sure that you aren't getting gluten by something your eating that is causing the spasms to occurs.
One doctor told me that the organs can get so swollen then can put pressure on certain areas and cause spasms, my pain would radiate all the way down my leg.I also had xrays done but they mainly just showed some slight alignment issues so I knew that my pain was being caused from something I was eating. I decided to do a test and ate a piece of regular bread which was a terrible idea because for 3 days I could barely move the pain in my back was so bad.
My chiropractor told me that he thought my hips joints were so weak that they could support my body weight which didn't make sense because I have been a personal trainer for almost 7 years and until about a year ago when I started getting sick I worked out all the time, so I really believe that is was connected to my diet. Because otherwise why would it not hurt all the time?
Even though your xrays show that there is an problem there I would also recommend yoga it has been something that has helped me so much that I even went through a training program to teach it to others. I really hope you start feeling better soon...I feel your pain.

I agree with ravenwoodglass pineapple really helps me. Digestive enzymes also really bother my stomach. She can also try Bromelain which is a natural supplement that's derived from pineapples and is also supposed to help the body with inflammation as well, which is very common for people with Celiacs Disease and gluten intolerance. Hope she is feeling better.

A year ago I was diagnosed with Hashimotos along with being gluten intolerant, having PCOS and extremely low progesterone.My cortisol levels were so low with barely any cortisol in the morning and nothing in the afternoon and evening. Since going gluten free my cortisol levels have improved overall but occasionally I feel like my adrenals get very stressed.I did take a very low dose of hydrocortisone for a few months and it seemed to help but I also thought it was bothering my stomach, looking back it could have been a variety of different things because I now know I am allergic to dairy, soy, gluten, and most grains. I wanted to make sure they was no gluten in hydrocortisone and was wondering if anyone had any information about this?
The past month I have been traveling a lot for work and even though I try to eat out as little as possible and always order gluten free, I feel like I am getting effected from some cross contamination, and it is effecting my adrenals along with many other things. From now on I am packing a cooler any only eating at restaurants that can avoid cross contamination. My adrenals feel so fatigued again that I have zero energy for the past week and I am considering going back on a low dose of hydrocortisone so I can function. I don't like taking it because it's not natural but I have tried a lot of other things and nothing is seeming to help. My period is running over a weak late which is only adding to me feeling tired. Does anyone know if hydrocortisone has any gluten in it? I would hate to take it and make myself more sick. Also does anyone have any other suggestions for the adrenals. Over the past few years I have tried.
Adrenal Dessicated (Standard Process)
GA Adrenal (Systemic Formulas)
Adrenal Response (Innate)
Super Adrenal Stress Formula and Adrenal Rebuilder (Dr. Wilson)
None of these products seemed to help very much. I am very fatigued this week and still not sleeping well at all. Does anyone have any other suggestions on this or something else I I could take?
Thanks so much for any advice you may have.

When I was diagnosed with Hashimotos my Natropaths wife who also has Hashimotos, told me it was a good idea to stop eating gluten. Some of the research I have done shows that it can increase the thyroid antibodies. It makes my normally more hypothyroid change to hyperthyroid. When I stopped eating gluten about a year ago, I started sleeping much better, I could focus better and my hot flashed became much less frequent.
About 3 months into my gluten free diet, I intentionally glutened myself to see what would happen. Sure enough I woke up that night covered in sweat, had a couple pretty restless nights, and my thyroid was swollen for over a weak. From my personal experience it really made a huge difference to stop eating gluten. Getting a good nights sleep is so important for your bodies healing.
Best of luck to you.

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Celiac.com was founded in 1995 by Scott Adams, author of Cereal Killers, founder and publisher of Journal of Gluten Sensitivity, and founder of The Gluten-Free Mall, who had a single goal for the site: To help as many people as possible with celiac disease get diagnosed and living a happy, healthy gluten-free life!